Shopping - Tokyo - page 226

226

A Note on Japanese Symbols

Many hotels, restaurants, attractions, and shops in Japan do not have signs giv-
ing their names in Roman (English-language) letters. Chapter 14 lists the Japa-
nese symbols for all such places described in this guide. Each set of characters
representing an establishment name has a number in the appendix, which corre-
sponds to the number that appears inside the oval preceding the establishment's
name in the text. Thus, to find the Japanese symbol for, say, Don Quijote, refer to
no. 62 on p. 326.

Anime Center, just north of the JR Akihabara Station on the fourth floor of UDX
( & 03/5298-1188; www.animecenter.jp; Tues-Sun 11am-7pm), with an information
desk, a merchandise shop, and a 3-D theater (admission charged for theater only).
One of the best anime/manga chain stores in Japan is Mandarake, with a shop in
Akihabara, about 4 minutes from JR Akihabara Station at 3-11-2 Soto-Kanda
( & 03/3252-7007; www.mandarake.co.jp). Open daily from noon to 8pm, the sleek
black building offers eight floors of both new and second-hand goods, including pop and
vintage figurines, video games, manga, and posters. Serious shoppers, however, will want
to make a pilgrimage to Nakano Broadway mall at 5-52-15 Nakano ( & 03/3388-
7004 ), a 5-minute walk from the north exit of Nakano Station, where you'll find Man-
darake's head store and a slew of other shops dedicated to both new and retro pop goods
from Japan and overseas, including software, games, manga, figures, and anime and
cosplay fare, all open daily from noon to 8pm. A smaller branch is in Shibuya at 31-2
Udagawacho ( & 03/3477-0777 ), open daily from noon to 8pm.
Otherwise, back in Akihabara, U Kotobukiya, conveniently located across from JR
Akihabara Station, in the Radio Kaikan Building, at 1-15-16 Soto-Kanda ( & 03/5298-
6300 ), sells stuffed anime characters, movie props, and figurines (some of them definitely
X-rated) from 10am to 8pm daily. It's also worth popping into P Don Quijote, on
Chuo Dori, at 4-3-3 Soto-Kanda ( & 03/5298-5411; www.donki.com), which has to
be seen to appreciate its jumble of everyday goods too numerous to mention, including
maid costumes and even a maid cafe (I don't even want to get into why these are so
popular) on the fifth floor. It's open daily from 10am to 5am.

9

ANTIQUES & CURIOS
In recent years, it has become a buyer-beware market in Japan, mostly due to fake
antiques produced in China infiltrating the Japanese market. You shouldn't have any
problems with the reputable dealers listed here, but if you're buying an expensive piece,
be sure to ask whether there are any papers of authenticity.
In addition to the listings here, other places to look for antiques include the Oriental
Bazaar and Tokyo's outdoor flea markets (see later in this chapter).
Antique Mall Ginza Japanese, European, and some American antiques, collectibles,
and odds and ends crowd three floors of Tokyo's largest antiques mall, where you could
spend hours browsing among furniture, jewelry, watches, porcelain, pottery, dolls, net-
suke, scrolls, glassware, kimono, folk art, and much more. Open Thursday to Tuesday
11am to 7pm. 1-13-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku. & 03/3535-2115. www.antiques-jp.com. Station: Ginza-
Itchome or Kyobashi (3 min.). Btw Chuo Dori and Showa Dori.